Ballad by Simon Oak to remember the 2023 edition of the Traditional Singing Weekend in Inishowen. The stone is real and still on his desk in Holland. Lyrics There you are, just a stone Are you waiting for some company? On the sand, all alone…
A short song by Simon Oak about too much faith to the tune of The Mason’s Apron. Lyrics 1. Some say that doubt is the Devil if you have to drive a car Doubt is the Devil for the one behind the bar Doubt is…
Protest song against Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Lyrics I wished the drones above my head were song birds Singing at the dawn to start the day I miss the shadows of our lofty palm trees Everything is rubble now and grey I wished my lovely…
A new song by Simon Oak to the melody of Tommy Makem’s Rambles of Spring. It challenges you learn a Dutch word: Fiets = Bicylce (noun) or Cycle (1st person verb), sounds like “feats”. The song is based on the real experience of abandoned Christmas…
A special kind of love song by Simon Oak to the beautiful air of Jay Ungar’s Ashokan Farewell, which has an A and a B part. The indented verses 3, 4, 6 and 7 have the B part of the air. Lyrics 1. I could…
A US-mocking version of Dominic Behan‘s The Sea Around Us, written by Simon Oak in the first week of Donald Trumps second term as president. The first verse and the first line of the chorus are Dominic’s own. Lyrics They say that the lakes of…
This new song post started in June 2019, but was never published here. It’s 2025 now and I’ve restarted to work on my website, because this feels like the only place to publish my work without feeding the social media beasts. Most of my creative…
Klezmer style song by Simon Oak about the ongoing injustice being done to the Palestinians by Israel and the international community, largely initiated by the famous Winston Churchill, whose mistakes have cost so many lives and whose plans still have their aftermath around the world…
Uptempo song about a bus driver who doesn’t care where she drives the bus as long as she can hold the wheel. She respects ‘the will of the passengers’ and watches how a couple of them they fight. She’d steer the bus right off the…
Ballad by Simon Oak about the late Liam Clancy, one of my heroes, returning to his home town Carrick-On-Suir. The song was written for the songwriting competition ‘A Song for Carrick 2017’ and, because I had never been there, the song is almost entirely based on…